Ladders are conventionally utilized to provide a user thereof with improved access to elevated locations that might otherwise be inaccessible. Ladders come in many shapes and sizes, such as straight ladders, straight extension ladders, stepladders, and combination step and extension ladders. So-called combination ladders may incorporate, in a single ladder, many of the benefits of multiple ladder designs.
Ladders such as stepladders are highly utilized by various tradesman as well as homeowners. Such ladders are “self-supporting” in that they do not require the upper end of the ladder to be positioned against a supporting structure, such as a wall or the edge of a roof. Rather, stepladders include multiple feet (typically either three or four) that are spaced from one another and provide a stable base or foundational structure to support the ladder and a user when placed on, for example, a floor or the ground. This enables a user of the ladder to gain access to elevated areas even though the accessed area may be, for example, in the middle of a room, away from walls or other potential supporting structures that are conventionally required when using a straight ladder or an extension ladder.
For these reasons and others, step ladders are one of the more popular forms of ladders and comprise a large segment of the ladder market. However, there are always areas of potential improvement. For example, conventional configurations of stepladders are often considered bulky. The bulky size of the ladder, when they are in a collapsed or storable state, can make it difficult to carry the ladder and may cause it to take up more space than desired when being stored or transported. Moreover, the volume occupied by a ladder has significant impact on shipping costs and on the amount of ladders that may be stored, displayed, or both, within a retail establishment or a distributor's warehouse.
In other words, when in a collapsed state, the volume occupied by a stepladder is largely air because the stepladder is constructed generally as a frame-like structure. The structure conventionally includes a first assembly including a set of spaced-apart side rails coupled to a plurality of steps or rungs. Another assembly includes set of spaced-apart side rails and is conventionally positioned adjacent the first assembly, when in a collapsed or storable state, to define a volume generally having a height equal to that of the taller of the first assembly and the second assembly, a width equally to that of the wider of the first assembly and the second assembly, and a depth that is equal to a sum of the depth of the first assembly and the depth of the second assembly.
Thus, it would be advantageous to provide stepladders that define a smaller volume when in a collapsed or stored state while maintaining similar strength and stability characteristics of a ladder having a similar size and capacity when in a deployed or useable state. It would also be advantageous to provide methods related to manufacturing and using stepladders that result in reduced bulk and volume of such ladders while in a collapsed state and also maintaining the general usability of the ladder.